Etymology
29 entries found.

hare (v.)

"to harry, harass," 1520s; meaning "to frighten" is 1650s; of uncertain origin; connections have been suggested to harry (v.) and to hare (n.). Related: Hared; haring.

hare (n.)

Old English hara "hare," from Proto-West Germanic *hasan- (source also of Old Frisian hasa, Middle Dutch haese, Dutch haas, Old High German haso, German Hase), of uncertain origin; possibly the original sense was "gray" (compare Old English hasu, Old High German hasan "gray"), from PIE *khas- "gray" (source also of Latin canus "white, gray, gray-haired"). Perhaps cognate with Sanskrit sasah, Afghan soe, Welsh ceinach "hare." Rabbits burrow in the ground; hares do not. þou hast a crokyd tunge heldyng wyth hownd and wyth hare. ["Jacob's Well," c. 1440]

hare-lip (n.)

also harelip, 1560s, from hare (n.) + lip (n.). So called for resemblance.

hare-brained (adj.)

also harebrained, 1540s, from hare-brain "giddy or reckless person" (1540s), probably from hare (n.), on notion of "flighty, skittish."

hasenpfeffer (n.)

1873, from German hasenpfeffer, from Hase "hare" (see hare (n.)) + pfeffer "pepper" (see pepper (n.)).

harum-scarum (adv.)

1670s (harum-starum), probably a rhyming compound of obsolete hare (v.) "harry" + scare (v.), with 'um as a reduced form of them, the whole perhaps meant to be mock Latin. As an adjective from 1751; as a noun, "reckless person," from 1784.

harrier (n.)

"small hunting dog," 1540s, from Middle English hayrer, eirer (c. 1400) in the same sense, which is of uncertain origin. Possibly from French errier "wanderer" [Barnhart, Middle English Compendium], or associated with hare (n.), which they would have hunted. Influenced by harry (v.). The hawk genus (1550s) is from harry (v.).

Hare Krishna (adj.)

1970, from the title of a Hindu chant or mantra, from Hindi hare "O God!" + Krishna, name of an incarnation of the god Vishnu.

leveret (n.)

"young hare," early 15c., from Old French levrat, diminutive of levre (12c., Modern French lièvre) "hare," from Latin lepore, from lepus "a hare." "According to Pliny, [Greek leberis] 'rabbit' is from Massilia. This has given rise to the idea that lepus is an Iberian loanword in Latin, which is possible but not certain." [de Vaan]

hazy (adj.)

1620s, hawsey, nautical, of unknown origin. Some connect it with German hase "hare," an animal which plays an important part in Germanic folklore, with many supernatural and unlucky aspects in medieval times (among the superstitions: a dead hare should not be brought aboard a fishing ship, and the word hare should not be spoken at sea). Another suggestion is Old English hasu, haswe "gray." Related: Hazily; haziness.
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